Friday, April 1, 2016

History: The Year is 1757

'No Firing Till You See the Whites of Their Eyes!' -- Even though we remember this battle cry at Bunker Hill, it was an old battle cry even in 1757.

The Mongols have Invaded Tech Support! -- Calcutta falls to the British as elements of the British Raj are just getting started. I talk about Mongols, Moguls and why the British Raj set the conditions necessary for tech-support centers in India.

Timeline Bullet Points -- Vancouver and Lafayette are born.

'No Firing Till You See the Whites of Their Eyes!'

The Seven Year's War has caused big changes. France is now allied
with their traditional enemy, Austria-Hungry. The Prussian King
Frederick the Great (the Old Fritz) has made alliance with his old
enemy, England. In this war he has moved on Prague and laid siege, but
Austrian troops threaten him from the Kolin Hills. With such a large
force in his rear, the Old Fritz conducts a number of assaults on the
Kolin Hills, calling for bayonets and "...no firing till you see the
whites of their eyes!" It is an old battle cry even in 1757. The Battle
of Bunker Hill won't be until 1775.
The British will incur massive losses for the Bunker Hill victory. (In
the words of the ancient Greeks, "We can't win many more victories like
this one.") Frederick's men are hesitating to join battle so he shouts
another familiar line... "You rascals! Do you want to live forever?!"
His troops push forward but to no avail. Prussia is forced to retreat.
The result is 14,000 dead or wounded for Prussia alone. (In a battle, a
wounded solider is as good as a kill since in the short-term he must be
cared for.)
[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

My Take by Alex ShruggedGermans
were once a rowdy mob. The exception was the order of the Teutonic
Knights, so Frederick the Great used their example in whipping the
German people into shape. He was so successful that the word "Prussian"
now means disciplined... almost like a machine. Frederick also used the
cross of the Teutonic Knights as the symbol for Prussia. The cross was
later stylized by modern Germany into the wide, double-lined Iron Cross
that most people remember from World War 2. Germany was split into East
and West after World War 2, and when talk of reunification began in 1989
I thought that such a disciplined and militaristic people would be too
much of a bad thing. I was wrong. Currently Germany is busy goofing up
its economy, but compared to the rest of Europe, it is using its
discipline well. [10][11]

The Mongols have Invaded Tech Support!

The word "Mogul" comes from the Persian word meaning "Mongol". The
Mogul Empire once extended into India, but the last strong emperor died
in 1707
and India fell into warring provinces. Now India is on the verge of
surrendering to a British file clerk! ("How the mighty have fallen...")
When Robert Clive arrived in India, he was a merchant's representative
for the British East India Company but India was being used to fight a
proxy war between the various nations of Europe. During those wars,
Clive was noticed for his bravery under fire. After over 120 British
soldiers died in the Black Hole of Calcutta (a dungeon), and several
diplomatic letters to the Nawab (provincial representative of the
Moguls) went unanswered, Clive was sent to capture the city. While
Admiral Charles Watson bombarded the local fort from the sea, Clive came
over land with a small force and took the fort. Shortly thereafter,
Calcutta fell.
[12][13][14]

My Take by Alex ShruggedOK.
Why is this important? Robert Clive was the guy who set up the British
Raj along with Warren Hastings. (The British Raj was the government
system that Gandhi fought with passive resistance and won.) Clive also
set up the conditions to locate all tech-support centers in India
because the British Raj insisted on using English as the language of
government. Thus today many of the people of India know both their local
language and English. If you want to hate Clive for setting that up,
take a number. At the time, Clive was accused of corruption and cruelty,
but it can be argued that using a stick to bring order out of chaos
caused less suffering and not more. (Your choice.) While the power of
the Moguls diminished, their prestige did not. They still had a lot of
money and influence. That is why today when we use the word "mogul" we
mean someone who is powerful and rich even though what it really means
is "Mongol". [15]

Timeline Bullet Points

George Vancouver is born in England. He will explore the Pacific Northwest. Vancouver Island will be named after him. [16]

The London Chronicle starts publishing. It will be the first newspaper in Europe to publish the Declaration of Independence in full (but without comment or explanation). [17]

Lafayette is born in France. Even though George Washington is currently fighting the French and Indian War,
he will come to depend on Lafayette during the American Revolution.
Lafayette Square in Washington, DC will be named after him. [17][18]